Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, talking to the Financial Times, has said today that the carrier is now actively considering deploying WiMAX and LTE for their 4G networks.
Currently, the company only offers 4G through WiMAX.
That decision is leading many to speculate that a long rumored merger between Sprint and T-Mobile USA is a possibility, given that both would use LTE for their 4G needs.
The merger makes no sense now, as T-Mobile uses GSM/UMTS for 3G while Sprint uses CDMA. Deutsche Telekom, the parent of T-Mobile has entertained offers to sell its American unit.
T-Mobile is the fourth biggest carrier in the U.S., with 34 million subscribers, while Sprint is third at 48 million. Both trail leaders Verizon and AT&T by a large margin.
When asked about a merger, Hesse said there was “logic” behind a move like that: “I don’t see a need to scale larger, but if there’s an acquisition that makes sense for us, I do want to have a balance sheet that would give me the flexibility of making good acquisitions when we see them.”
Result for: million subscribers
Mashable is reporting today that visitors to Netflix’s site have jumped 46 percent year-over-year for the month of June.
The growth is thanks to the increasing popularity of the Watch Instantly streaming service, and Netflix’s decision to add their native service to set-top boxes, Blu-ray players and HDTVs.
Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney adds that Netflix’s explosive growth is the “fastest year-to-year growth [he] has seen in over five years.”
For the entire second quarter, Netflix’s web traffic was up 34 percent year-over-year. In the first quarter, YoY growth was 19 percent.
Netflix has added 1.7 million subscribers in the Q1, ending with 14 million customers.
Result for: million subscribers
Update to our previous article (reposted below):
Cablevision and ABC have come to a deal, 45 minutes after the start of the Oscars. More word on the agreement when it is finalized.
Original article:
Disney has blacked out the broadcast channel ABC for Cablevision’s 3 million subscribers, the day of the highly-anticipated Academy Awards.
Cablevision says it’s willing to restart negotiations with Disney, along with a third-party arbitrator, to end the spat over transmission fees.
The cable company has a decent monopoly over the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and parts of NJ and Connecticut.
“Given the extraordinary public interest in this matter, Senator (John) Kerry and other public officials have suggested that arbitration is appropriate in this highly unusual situation,” added Charles Schueler, Cablevision’s executive vice president of communications. “Cablevision will agree to binding arbitration and calls upon Disney CEO Bob Iger to immediately return ABC to New YOrk area viewers and join us in binding arbitration to resolve this matter fairly.”
ABC says they have put forward a counter-offer this afternoon.
